palpating your patient’s radial pulse.

To palpate a radial pulse, use the sensitive tips of your first three fingers over the expected radial pulse site. To be specific: at the wrist…lateral to the flexor carpi radialis tendon. You can use your other hand to support the patients wrist. Once it has been located, some nurses like to just use two fingers over the pulse. The pulse is felt as a pressure wave produced by ventricular ejection during systole. Interestingly this pressure wave travels down the artery much faster than the blood itself (5 metres/sec versus 40–50 centimetres/sec respectively). With increased age, or due to changes in the wall of the arteries, the resulting stiffness (or compliance) of the vessels increases the speed of the pressure wave. Evaluation of the radial pulse: Rate. Rhythm Volume Character Rate: For an accurate assessment of pulse rate it is ideal to count the pulse for an entire minute. If this is impractical, then 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Normal pulse rate should be 60–100/minute. For a quick assessment you can compare the pulse as you imagine the tune to Row Row Row Your Boat which gives you a rough rate of 100. And for a rate of 60, think Maria Carey’s Hero. I know, I know. Can anyone offer up another popular song at 60 bpm? A rapid regular pulse may be generated by: Sinus Tachycardia ( Anxiety, emotions, fever, sepsis, caffeine, drugs, pregnancy) Supraventricular Tachycardia. Paroxysmal atrial tachycadia. A regular slow pulse may be generated by: Sinus Bradycard...
Source: impactEDnurse - Category: Nurses Authors: Tags: clinical skills Source Type: blogs